Matthew 14 22-33
12th Sunday a. Pentecost
Matthew 14:22-33
August 11th, 2002
“Come On In, the Waters Fine”
Introduction: My next-door neighbor never learned to swim. Though I have known her most of my life, it is only recently that I found out why. There are some things that are seldom spoken about. It was a summer day. The weather was a mixed bag of sun and clouds. It was sunny enough and warm enough for a trip to the lake. That is where she and her family went. But there was a dark shadow cast on the pleasant day as dark clouds on the horizon hinted of a quickly moving storm. Off shore and in a distance appeared a waterspout moving to and fro in the water. Her uncle reassured her that she was safe. Waterspouts don’t come a shore. But this one did. From a small beach house, my neighbor, a child at the time, watched as the storm and the tornado came and went taking her father, brother and several other people. It is understandable that she never went back to the lake; and she never learned to swim.
I. Storms of Life and Faith
A. Storms of Life. We are not strangers to storms. We are all familiar with thunderstorms, violent winds, and crushing hail. We know about people that have experienced the terror of tornados and hurricanes, some of us personally. There are other storms that are more subtle, which affect us all. These are storms that affect our crops and lively hoods and our cost of living and eating, like not enough rain or too much rain, temperatures that are too hot or too cold, all bringing potential devastation. When was the last time you remember the perfect growing season. The storms of potential failure swirl around us.
B. Storms of Person. The storms of weather may seem like nothing at all compared to the storms that rage in our personal lives. These also take many different forms. Like the weather, some of our storms are violent and some are more subtle, barely distinguishable to even our closest friends and family members. Death and sickness and personal tragedies are visible to the people around us. Sometimes we suffer from the silent tempest of an unsettled soul. We silently ask ourselves questions like, “How long will I be able to keep my home.” “How will we pay the bills?” “Can I keep my marriage from falling apart?” “What will school be like this year and will anybody like me?” and “What am I going to do with my life?” It seems all too often that more than one storm hits us at a time. It is like the movie the Perfect Storm, where massive weather systems converge, creating the storm of the century, and we are on a tiny boat in the middle of a raging sea. As these storms rage within us we are often confronted by a crisis in faith.
C. Storms of Peter. Peter faced such a storm and crisis in faith. Jesus had instructed His disciples to get into the boat and cross the Sea of Galilee and go to the town of Capernaum. The Sea of Galilee is about half the size lake Winnebago, 13 miles long and 6 miles wide. It wasn’t a long trip by boat, maybe three or four miles. While they were on their way a strong and violent storm came upon them, driving them south and away from their goal. They labored to follow their master’s instruction and head toward Capernaum. Hour upon hour they labored against the tempest without success. They were driven and tossed about on the tiny boat. Jesus knew their condition. He allowed it to happen. After all he sent them out knowing full well that the storm would over take them. Jesus went to them walking on the water. There in the middle of that raging storm Jesus comes to them and says, “Be of courage, do not fear, it is I.” Who knows what Peter was thinking and maybe not even Peter but he boldly speaks these words, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” The Lord Jesus said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and, by faith, became the second man in the history of the world to walk upon the water in the middle of a raging storm. Raging storm did you say? Peter looked around, the wind whipped at his face, large white crested waves crashed at his feet. His great faith crashed in doubt and he began to sink. Peter knew how to swim. You don’t need faith to do that. But swimming cannot help a crisis of faith. That was the storm that Peter was in. He doubted that Jesus was the Lord, even the Lord of the storm.
II. Jesus, the Lord of the Storm
A. Lord of the Storm. The story of Jesus walking on the water is recorded in Matthew, Mark and John. As I studied and prepared for this sermon I was surprised that Matthew was the only one that included Peter walking on the water. Why? You would think that something that significant would be told and retold by the gospel writers. After all wouldn’t it serve to point out the great potential of our faith or show us our faithless shortcomings? The main point of the story is not Peter and his crisis of faith. The main point of the story is that Jesus is Lord over all the storms of life, both physical and spiritual. Last week, in the feeding of the 5,000, we saw that Jesus was the bountiful provider. This week we see that he is Lord over earth and sea and is able and willing to give protection from the storms of life.
B. Lord of Our Doubt. As Peter sank into the sea he didn’t need to be saved from drowning in water. He needed to be saved from drowning in disbelief. He cries out, “Lord save me”. Week in and week out this is our cry too. In the Kyrie we say, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. As we are battered by the storms of our lives and drowning in our own doubt, what more can we say? The Lord reached out His right hand and grabbed doubting Peter. For our sake, it is good that Peter began to sink as he walked toward Jesus. Peter’s impetuous attempt at walking on the water shows us that faith, both strong and weak, cannot stand on it’s own. Faith must cling to Jesus who protects and provides. Faith must look to Jesus who gave His own life on the cross to protect and save us from the storm of God’s judgment on our sin. We grip the hand of God by faith as He holds onto us. Like Peter we are saved. We are saved, not from the storms of life that often assail us, rather we are saved from our own weakness and doubt as we cry out “Lord save me”. The Lord is ever ready to save. He is our comfort, our only help in time of need who preserves us from temptation and gives us patience in tribulation.
Conclusion: As we face life’s storms and as we sometimes do doubt the Lord’s presence and power in our lives. We may forget that the Lord knows exactly where we are in the raging sea of life. At these times we may be tempted to not attend church. When struggling with sin and weakness we may consider ourselves not worthy to come into the presence of the Lord. We may fear that people will see us as hypocrites as we imperfectly live out our Christian lives. Yet gathering around God’s Word, communing at His table and worshipping with His people is exactly where we need to be. Here Christian struggle together in the storms of life and find strength. Here in church we, like Peter, look towards Jesus. He bids to us as he bid to Peter “be of courage”, “do not fear”, “it is I”, get out of the boat, don’t worry about the storm, come on in the waters fine.